Apparatus for cleaning smoke-tubes of marine and other multitubular boilers.



C. H. SHEPLER 6L I. W. SHEARER. APPARATUS Fori CLEANING SMOKE TUBES 0F MARINE AND OTHER MULTlTuuLAR BolLEaS.

A APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. 1913. 1,189,910.

Patented.' May 18, 1915.

CKH. SHEPLER IL I. W. SHEARER. APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SMOKE TUBES 0F MARINE AND OTHER NIULTITUBULAR BOILERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 19, 1913.

l 1,139,910. Patened May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETS-#SHEET 2.

Whead projecting radially from the hollow shaft and adapted when the pipe is rotated4 fini' ,TED feras ramen CHARLES H.' SHEPLER AD JOSEPH W. SHEARER, 0F .SAN FRANCISCO, ClALIFOB'INI'IA..y

APPARATUS Foie CLEANING SMOKE- TUBES or MARINE Ann omnes, MULTITBULAB Houses;

' Lisaaie.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES H. SHEPLER and JOSEPH W. Streamer, the former-a citizen of thev United States, the latter a subject of the King of Great Britain, both residing at San Francisco, in the State of California,

United States of America, have invented' certain new and useful Improvements in Ap-v ,4 pa'ratus for Cleaning Smoke-Tubes of Ma- T1o j -ture that a hollow shaft or pipe passed through one of the smoke tubes and capable of being` rotated and at the same time slowly advanced longitudinally` is provided at one end lbeyond the s molic tubes with a blower` to blow obliquely a jet of steam or other pressure fluid first intoA thev tubes nearest to tube cleaner in use with a marine boiler.

the one through which the hollow shaft is passedfhnd then by advancing the hollow Shaft longitudinally so that the range of the nozzle is increased, and continuing to rotate it, the said nozzle will blow a jet of pressure fluid into all the'other smoke tubes in turn. whereby the said smoke tubes or a series ot them can be successively cleaned, without changing the center of rotation,r or dismounting any of the parts.

In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal sections of the tube cleaner; Figs. 4 and 5 are cross sectional detail views; l4 ig. 6 isa longitudinal section embodying a modification, and Fig. 7 is a general view partly in section showing our A convenient way of carrying the invention into effect is shown in Figs. 1J and 7 wherein weprovidc a tubular member or barrel 1 which can be applied and fixed to some part of the boiler front and secured thereto in a suitable manner when it is re- Iquired to clean the tubes. The bore of this barrel 1 is threaded inside ,to receive a cylin- Specication of Letters Patent.

second port. l

provided with a stuiiingbox 9 with suitable I packing through which theT ollow shaftdrical nut 2 which latter has its thread outside, so that it can be screwed into the threaded bore of the barrel 1, and is ca able.. the length of the barrel. .Through this barrel.

of being turned from end to end o and throueh the hollow nut is passed the p Patented May 18, 1915..'

Application filed September 19, 1913. Serial No. 790,692.

hollow4 shaft or pipe 3. 'll-his hollow shaft 3 is a good deal smaller than the bore of the barrel l soas to leave plenty of clearance space between, for the passage of steam or.

other pressure fluid, but'it fits tight intothe center hole in the cylindrical nut 2. The'mltff is secured to the hollow shaft Vby Aset screws.r

-l riveted over so as to be a fixture, and A therefore the rotation of the hollow shaft 3 will rotate the nut 2 and so advance the hollow shaft 3 longitudinally.' `Thus the nut 2' works solidly with the shaft as regards both rotary and longitudinal movement. At

, the end of this nut 2, a portl 7 is cut in theI A ,hollow hal't 3, so that steam or other pres- 7,51A

sure lluid may pass 'r'reelyfrom the barrelA -f into thc hollow shatfand a short distancev in iront of the nut a cross Vpin. or abutment 5 is fixed to the hollow shaft, so as to project outsidethe same but within the,barrel,' The exterior ot the nut may have longitudinal' channels 6 so that the pressure Huid may freely pass beyond the, nut'into thebarrelV at'the other side. One object of this isto' put the nut 2 more nearly in equilibrium.. ln this case a second port 8 inay be cut in the hollow shaft 3 beyond the nut, so that (3 will enter the hollow shaft through this At leach endrthc barrel 1^" is passes, thus not only allording'lengthwise and rotary inovcnent of the shaft While u iaintainingz a fluid-tight joint about the moving part. but also forming bearings to support the hollow shaft in the central position within the barrel. This gives'the hollow shalt a tood bearing surface atthc ends of Hu` barrgl. and provides adequateisupport thereto. A bush l() in the stalling box. acts 'pressure lluid passing through the channels as a check in connection with the traveler These collars form bearings for the hollow shaft-when 'placed vcfithin` a smoke tube.

,-'lheyere freely mounted on the hollowy By turning this handle the hollow. shaft 3 is rotated, and at the saine time it is by meansl of the nut 2 slowly advanced longitudinally.

along the barrel l.V The inner end of the hollow shaft has s blower head 18 project- I ing radially from the shaft 3, and having a nozzle 19 projecting forwardly', e; toward the tube plate 20 but at an angle oblique to the axis of the hollow shaft 3. This' nozzleV has a series'of coarse pitchedV grooves 19"L arranged to import a whirling' motion to the steam or other compressed duid issu- 'hollow sha 3 is by preference made in two or more lengths so as to suit varying lengths of smoke tubes.- These lengths are suitably coupled together et the adjacent mounted in the barrel 1 as aforesaid with its two ends projecting out of the front and rear ends of the barrel, while another length carries the blower heed 18 at its end. A

convenient way of coupling the adjacent ends of the hollowr shafts orpipes, is by.,

means of a halving joint 22, so that the end of one length will lap onto the other length and be connected together by a union nut 23 screwed onto a three-d cut on the ad jacent ends, the thread on one length tallymgwith the thread on the other. Any suitable number of lengthening bars may be introduced, which bers "cire interchangeable, can be fimlyftoupled together,`and at the `'same time caribe reedilyfncoupled when- Aever desired. i o. The operation Y "1 is vsuitably fixedtotheboiler front in line with thefmost"centralsmolie tub@y or the nearest possible tothemmost central. ln con l nection with a merin'evboiler, thev most con-- venient plan is toont' a holefin the center of the smoke boi:l door 24e large'enougli to winsertnthe bzirrelv 1 into it, and provide a flange i125 on the outside of the barrel, ar-l ranged at an angle to correspond to the arr /gleof the'smoke box door. This flange is oltedto the door by the flanges 26 when the JP barrel. is passed into the hole, so-that the l barrel 1 shall be fixed in position in line W1th Y l the smoke tube 13. The ihollowjshaft 3 with the blower head 1 8 .at the end is. passed 'l `through the hole in they smoke box door 24 li into av'smoke tube 13, so that the nozzle proing at high Velocity from the nozzle. The' ends, one length of hollow shaft beingl 1s -as iollows :@The barrel j jectsshort distance beyond the back end of thesmolre`- tube into thecombustion chamber 27,' andi the' barrel l atv the front end is bolted as aforesaid to the smoke box door, the hollow' shaft projecting somewhat at the stolze hold end Then the flexible steam pipe 29 is 'coupled to the union on the barrel 1, and the apparatus is now in position ioituse.v Steam or other compressed fluid, is

turned on, and the operator turns the handle 17 at the frontend, thus turning the blower Y.

-head 18 at, the rear end, and a iet. of steam L is. blown intothe smoke tubes l13. At the outset when the nozzle is -close to the tube plate 2f), the' issuing )et of pressure fluid will only enter those smoke tubes nearest the axis oiT the 'hollow shaft 3, but the rota-y tion oi' the handle not only turns the nozzle 18, 'but also advances thefnozzle longitudinelly, and consequently as the nozzle gets,v

srtheralway from the tubeA plate 20, the range 'of the issuing jet 30 increases so that the steam or other pressure fluid, enters in turn those smoke tubes that are farther away iroin the hollow shaft 3, and so all the vtubes are individually cleaned by the strong jet of steam blowing the soot outward from the rear into the smoke box 31 at the front, end with the assistance of the natural draft oi' the lires, :moet of this soot escapes into the atmosphere throughthe uptake. When all the smoke tubes have been cleaned, the

handle i7 is turned the opposite way until the originel position of the traveling nut 2 when starting, is reaclied,ond the Asteam Jet `will now have gone twice over the entire range oi? the tubes and tube plate. The pres-- sure duid non shut o the apparatus pulled out oi': the smoke tube, the ho sinolze box door closed, andthe 'up aratus is then free for usein connection Wit another boiler or group of smoke tubes.

It must 'be understood that instead of there being onlyl one Anozzle in the blower.;

head, such /headmay have 'two' or more noz# zles if desired. Furthermore the'nut might be so aran ed that the hollow shaft moves longitudinally while thejnut does not. This' might be arranged by screwthreadingthe.

center hole in the bush 10 ofthe stuflin box at: the Stoke-hole end of the bufg'rel.l

V`(l1`ig.l 6)'so that as threadedfrod 33 can"be` screwed throu gh' them, Ithe said bush forrnL ing tho'nut. t the outside end of the rod 33 the operating handle 17 would be 'secred'while the other end is secured to the hollow" shaft 3 yon the inside of the barrell l1. By this arrangement the turning of the hahdle'l'i'- will rotate the hollowshaft and'fl'd@ Vance or withdraw it Y'by mean'sfo thasta-x bushes usually used' in stuliing es. At or near the place Where the screwed'rod 33 is secured-to the hollow shaft, the steam 'port .tionary nut or bush 10, the said bush 10 be- .ing made substantial and lon 1'y thany the'4 messie be of cast metal or made of Wrought iron or steel tubing.

Ve declare that what we claim is 1. Apparatus foi' cleaning smoke tubes comprising in combination a hollow shaft adaptedl to be passed through one of the smoke tubes, a blower head projecting radially therefrom at one end and adapted to 'blow a jet of pressure fluid toward the tubes,

and means for advancing the hollow shaft longitudinally and at the same time rotating.

it, so that the range of the nozzle with respect to the smoke tubes can be increased Without changing the center of rotation.

2. Apparatus for cleaning smoke tubes comprising in combination, artubularmem- ,ber or barrel adapted to be clamped to a part ofthe boiler front, a hollow shaft passed through the barrel and so jcurnaled therein as to be central With respect to the barrel and in line with a smoke tube, a forwardly projecting nozzle at the rear end of the hollow shaft located eXteriorly of the barrel so as to discharge toward the barrel, means for causing the hollow shaft to move longitudinally when rotated, land manually actuated means for operating the hollow shaft;

3. .ln apparatus for cleaning smoke tubes, s. hollow shaft adapted to be passed through the smoke tube, a barrel adapted to be clamped in a fixed position to the boiler ,front and havu ing a screw thread inside thereof, a cylindrical nut fixed to the hollow shaft vand screwed into the threaded bore of the barrel so as to be capable of. being' turned fron/lend to end theleo,and a handle at the front end ci the hollow shaft, whereby the turning of the handle simultaneously rotates the shaft and traverses it longitudinally.

4. Apparatus for cleaning smoke tubes comprising in combination, a. hollow barrel adapted' to be lixed to the boiler front in line with a smoke tube, a holloviI shaft journsled j y in the said barrel and adapted to be trav-I eled longitudinally through the smoke tube, a rotary nozzle at one end oi the shaft, a nut threaded externally and secured to the shaft within the barrel soV as to engage ,screwed threads on the inside of the barrel, s

having a discharge, and means tovboth ro *l tate and simultaneously move said conductor in step-by-step order longitudinally of the tube `in a single operation, said means when rotated'in one direction moving the conductor continuously inward and when rotated in the opposite direction moving the conductor continuously outward. s

6. In a tube cleaner, a rotatable element having a discharge nozzle .f lapted to 'be pro jected' from the frontend of a tube to be cleaned through the tube to cause the nozzle to extend beyond the rear end of the tube and to face said rear end of the tube, means to both positively rotate and longitudinally move said clement while in the tube, and means to supply steam to said element from tbeffront end of the tube.

7. In a tube cleaner, rotatable mea-ns hav? ing a. discharge, means to feed cleansing fluid under pressure to said rotatable means,

and means whereby rotation of said rota' En witness whereof, we have hereunto signed our naines this 25th day of August 19l3, in the presence of two subscribing Witeee- CHRLES ll. SHEPLER. JGSEPH lV'. SHEARER.

W'it esses:

A. Essens, l 

